Birthright

The only thing keeping the forces of evil at bay is a small child

As the slightly battered group of heroes await their next round of battle in the tiny room they were assigned to, they feel a familiar tingle starting at their toes and circling it’s way upward. The voice of Martin starts to become clear, although he still stumbles through their introduction, and they find themselves back in the arena. This time they are greeted by a warmer crowd but as they glance across the arena they set eyes on the new foe, Mammoth Shade.

Three huge ogres caked in gore move along the arena floor as two orcs adorned in robes ready dark magical energy to fire off as soon as the fight officially begins. Undaunted by these displays, our heroes move with great precision setting up tactical advantages. Ayri and Khazum Lightbeard move to the high ground to launch their ranged attacks on the dark orcs while Oxull and Basiliske Wyrmstrome assume battle stances for the fight with the large ogres. As the ranged fighters of of Kordz Killaz release strong attacks the mages retaliate quickly creating a swarm of shadow flies that plague the warlock and cleric. Our fighter moves in on ogre that wears knived gloves. The ogre dodges and answers back with two quick slashes across the chest of Oxull. When the ogre licks the blood from the blades the crowd goes wild!Basiliske Wyrmstrome releases his wolf and prepares to strike on one of the other ogres. The blow rings true and the third ogre winds up a swing on the supports of the central platform, knocking the warlock and cleric to their knees and causing major structural damage to the platform. Sensing the danger, our heroes exit the platform and rethink their tactics.

The battle rages and our heroes start to think they are terribly unmatched till Khazum Lightbeard discovers a a giant advantage, traps! Our heroes begin to use the traps of the arena to their advantage. Ogres fall into pits and land in bloody heaps. A shadow beasts rampages through the arena as the heroes step on the release plate. The tides turn as orc and ogre fall to the might of Kordz Killaz.

A victory in round two leads to another bonus round where our injured crew must use whatever means necessary to break through several large boards in a single blow. Oxull focuses his brute strength and Basiliske Wyrmstrome begin to harness his focus. Khazum Lightbeard says a prayer while Ayri cheats her way to success!

After the bonus round, the battered heroes struggle to regain their strength and patch their wounds when there is a knock on the door. A hurried guard wearing armor that is three sizes to big rushes in and starts spouting off warnings while he administers healing to everyone. He removes his helmet to get a better look at one of the cuts and the group is shocked to see the face of Luck. The group is baffled slightly but begin to think maybe Luck is on their side. The tingle starts again and the freshly bandaged heroes focus on the advice the mysterious Shortcloak gave them while pouring healing potions down their throat. They appear once more in the arena.

Martin almost gets the intro perfect this time and it is obvious the crowd has a new favorite. But as the introduction to the other team starts, our heroes find they are facing last year’s champions, a renowned group of murderous people know for their barbarism, The Speechless. Although intimidated Kord Killaz summon all their strength and the knowledge they have learned and prepare for a long fight.

The fight ends in a blur of magic and steel as our heroes step outside themselves and ascend to new heights of prowess. Every blow hits home. Every spell a direct hit. Every cheer of the crowd is met with another slash from the axe of Oxull. Every chant of “Kordz Killaz” recieves another burst of holy light from Khazum Lightbeard, and when the final Speechless hits the ground our heroes stand victorious. The incoherence of the crowd is in tongues. Undecipherable to any master of language.

One voice rises above the din and a light appears on the box where Lord Louis Flux rests. The Lord steps into the light and the heroes recieve their first glimpse of the man for whom they fight. Lord Louis Flux stands adorned in the finest silk dress. His makeup perfect. Hair curled. His deep voice sounds pleased with them but his request is resembles his clothes. Both are that of a madman and a sadist. He wishes to see who is the strongest of Kord Killaz and demands the members fight each other to the death. Upon refusal a mix of archers and mages ready their respective weapons targeted on our heroes. Lord Louis Flux’s scream echoes through the arena “FIGHT OR DIE!!!”

Oxull drops his weapon and crosses his arms. Basiliske Wyrmstrome and Khazum Lightbeard stand unsure of what to do. Ayri reacts by hurling dark energy directly into the head of Oxull. The stongest fighter on the field falls unconscious and the battle begins. With all the weapons becoming temporarily vampiric the battle is short lived. With Ayri on top. Royal healers revive the fallen. The insane ruler gayly claps his hands.

After being crowned the “Saviors of Winterhaven”, the group discovers the old helm they found in the gnomes cave is part of a set of enchanted armor that is being held in Calimport’s royal palace. How the ancient helmet escaped the from the biggest city in all of Braelin is a mystery to them, but they feel it should be returned to its rightful owner. So they make for the long road to Calimport.

A few days into their journey, their keen senses detect a disturbance in the forest. Upon investigating, they discover a large shirtless brute attacking a group of poor travellers. Our heroes charge in for the attack. Their cries make the barbarian beat a steady retreat as he runs off into the woods moaning incoherently. The grateful travellers introduce themselves as The Shortcloak Troubadours, an acting troupe. Although they haven’t any money they offer the adventurers all the food and drink they can handle and a performance. The show was to be a murder mystery and whichever of the heroes could solve the mystery would recieve a nice prize upon the morning. Basiliske Wyrmstrome was quick to solve the story. Then they all continued to drink till they passed out in a drunken stupor.

Our heroes wake up to a terrible hangover but are soon to find that is the least of their problems. The camp is abandoned and they have been robbed of everything. All except for Basiliske Wyrmstrome who was the winner of the story prize the previous night. The adventurers decide to track the Shortcloaks after Ayri used her magical prowess to reveal their hidden tracks which were leading to Calimport. Fueled with rage they set out on the road once again. Their travels prove much easier without the burden of heavy equipment.

The gate of Calimport are very busy and the market square is equally crammed. Shortly after their entrance a man selling tourist attraction maps cons them out of a few gold for his hand drawn map. Khazum Lightbeard sets out for the local Temple as the rest of the crew make for The Sceptre’s Handle an upscale hookah bar and hotel. Before they split a booth catches their eyes that is advertising The Lord’s Games. Oxull investigates and discovers a gladiator competition going on in honor of Lord Louis Flux, the ruling head of Calimport. Although currently unarmed the group enters the contest than continues their exploration of this bustling city.

Khazum Lightbeardreaches the local Temple of Kord to find one of the brothers of the temple, an elf named Brother Lute, locking it up. Lute tells the cleric that the temple is being closed for the night to avoid damage from warriors in town for The Lord’s Games that like to go there and defile the temple with the blood of unbelievers. Lute starts complaining about the High Priest of Battle Jareth who heads the temple devoted to the storm god of battle. Lute says Jareth wants to let everyone in to fight in the sacraficial battle circles regardless of belief. The bloodshed of unbelievers angers Kord but Jareth doesn’t seem to mind. Lute and Khazum Lightbeard set out for The Hog’s Wallow, the dirtiest and cheapest inn Calimport has to offer.

The rest of the group arrive at The Sceptre’s Handle to inquire about The Shortcloak Troubadours and are greeted by a cloud of sweet smelling smoke and a very light-headed Deva named Avati. Avati looks down on them and explains that his inn is for the upper class and they won’t really fit in. Through the haze of the smoke Avati does mention he has hear of the Shortcloaks but doesn’t know much else about them. He also points then to The Hog’s Wallow and says if they can get the guy that runs it arrested he wll let them in The Sceptre’s Handle.

Our heroes reunite at The Hog’s Wallow which is packed with all sorts of unsavory people. One of it’s patrons, a cloaked man playing solitaire, eyes Basiliske Wyrmstrome with a strange knowing look and a creepy smile. While Oxull and Ayri approach the barkeep, Khazum Lightbeard notices someone near the back that is hidden by a stack of books and decides to investigate.

The barkeep, a goliath named Ooglah the Mach,is rude at first but does soften a little until Oxull begins interrogating him about the Shortcloaks. Ooglah slams a fist down on the counter forcefully while shouting that “We don’t talk about them.” Ayri takes the reigns of the conversation back by setting up their rooms and meals.

Khazum Lightbeard discovers Martin behind the books. He appeared to be working feverishly on something but upon seeing a familiar face, Martin relaxes a little. He explains that he has an interview at The Cerullean Academy because of the work he has been doing with transfiguration. He has to present his experiments and needs a reference to get into the school. He immeadiately begs for you to put in a good word for him at the academy and in return he offers to be your herald at the games.

Basiliske Wyrmstrome has a seat with the mysterious hooded man that introduces himself as Luck. They start paying cards and having a little conversation when Luck reveals a tattoo of a small hood and says he is with The Shortcloak Troubadours. He tells you they need your help. They will give you your weapons and armor back if you promise to win The Lord’s Games. He says your weapons are located in the well in the residential district. The group reforms and relays their findings then sets off in the dead of night to find this well.

It is not to hard to locate. it is a large sculpture devoted to the god of civilization. Inspection of the well appears very curious. From the top it appears bottomless. The darkness within swallows light. It is very narrow with no visible way down so they bust out their trusty rope. As they descend things within the well change dramatically. The wells interior seems much larger once inside. The further you descend the brighter it gets and once at the end of the rope a ladder that stretches from top to bottom appears. Any novice mage can tell that strong magic inhabits this strange well. At the bottom, lies a chest that contained their armor and weapons that were stolen by the Shortcloaks. The only other feature is a caved in passage that doesnt seem very special.

Once armored up the group ascends the well and decides to rest up for the games. They go to bed with many questions about their first day in the big city of Calimport…

The morning comes quickly and with a guard to lead them out to the arena at the palace. as the work their way through the many palace hallways they eventually find themselves alone with a guard in a small room that is explaining the rules of the game. He seems oddly friendly and occasionally leans in to give you hints. Before he leaves he says that he is rooting for you and is sure you will win the first round. Basiliske Wyrmstrome, reads between the lines and suggests that the guard is in league with the Shortcloaks. In no time, you teleport into a large arena with hordes of crazed fans. The heralds begin to announce and sure enough Martin mispronounces every word of your introduction. You find out that for the first round you have to fight The Birds of Prey, a group of bird like people and a human huntress.

The fight goes smoothly, with Oxull stacking the bodies as he fights and Khazum Lightbeard calling down holy energy. The crowd quickly falls in love with Ayri’s dark magics calling out her next victim. The fight ends quickly and the group earns a little bit of a fan following. After completing a hedge maze for a bonus round the group find themselves back in the small room patiently awaiting the next round of battle. This time they must fight a group called Mammoth Shade.

as told by Oxull in an excerpt from a letter to Emma Green

...so I got that going for me.

I just got done saving Winterhaven again. It was a dark and rainy night. All the townsfolk were possessed by something evil coming out of this tower. When we saw what was going on, that -stupid- cleric of ours ran into the fight and got himself swarmed by zombies. He was pretty much dead till my axe and I ran in and tore through the evil army. I ran in and saved his life while Ayri and Basiliske Wyrmstrome continued their attacks on the outskirts of the battlefield.

I threw the dwarf’s lifeless body over to Basiliske Wyrmstrome then i continued to swing till the only one left was this shapeshifter that use to give us jobs around town. He tried to pull some magic tricks on us but my axe was not fooled. He split into four people and I dropped every single one of ‘em except for one that ran away with his tail between his legs. After we saved the town and everything was back to normal the mayor awarded me the title of “Savior of Winterhaven”.

The group rushes to their warlord with questions of “are you alright?” With a gruff response of “Im fine” he pushes the group to take care of business but in his head he feels weak and his maul feels heavier than normal. With the town of Winterhaven cleared of any patrols the group investigates the local hunters guild and finds a beartrap. Taking it and the trap that took a bite out of their warlock they set a clever trap up in the local temple. With beartraps placed outside the stainglass windows they lure several of the cultist in the temple and force them to jump out the windows into the slathering teeth of the trap. The sound alerts a few more cultist which are more of the shadow walkers. the assassin disappears in the darkness as a fight ensues. Basiliske Wyrmstrome has trouble raising his weapon but quickly shakes off the weakness in his mind to pummel a cultist. As the warlord cast down his magical wolfbrother the two proceed to triple team their foes with the help of the mighty Oxull. The shadow walker appears and pierces his dark blade into the back of Khazum Lightbeard who falls without a chance to react. Ayri continues to launch eldritch energies at the shadow wolf as the warlord gives words of healing to his stalwart dwarf cleric. With Khazum Lightbeard back on his feet, he grips his holy symbol and launches some holy light at foes unseen only to taste the shadow blade of the assassin once more. Basiliske Wyrmstrome raises the cleric once more then proceeds to attack the shadow walker. The battle concludes but the warlord continues to be attacked by dark forces and unseen evils. The group decides to bandage their wounds and try the same attack plan again but make one fatal mistake. They forget to clear the battlefield. As the new onslaught of cultist and shadow walkers come t o the church they are clearly alerted by the bodies of their fellow darkfriends. The assassin spots the cleric and vanishes from sight. Another cultist flanks behind the Hunters guild. The battle plays out nearly identical to the previous one with Khazum Lightbeard falling down as Ayri launches dark spectral magic from the rim of the battlefield. The group manages to survive and decide a different plan of action is in order. after clearing the field of evidence and a quick inspection of the bodies they discover a magical sickle which the warlock pockets and find tattoos on the shadow walkers that reveal their origins as a dark cult that lives deep in the alternate realm known as the Shadowfell. This time the adventurerers decide to setup a net inside the temple and take down their foes in close quarters combat. As their enemies approach Khazum Lightbeard shouts a challenge and the clueless cultist fall prey as they charge in sight unseen into the net which Basiliske Wyrmstrome gathers swiftly. Quick thinking from Ayri and Oxull proves brilliant as the two place the beartraps for the next attack. With one trap in front of the door for the next wave and the other trap directly below the net this battle proved quick and effortless. Now Khazum Lightbeard turns his attention outside where all the villagers are in some sort of undead possession as the ritual comes to a close. With rain falling down in the moonlight the heroes decide one thing is for sure… this ends tonight!!!

With rain falling heavily, the group decides to ignore the setting of any traps or doing anything tactical whatsoever. They instead move through the forest on the border of the town. As they reach Botwin’s farm, some distracting footwear draws the attention of a couple of cultists that were scanning the area. A fight ensues in a series of narrow alleyways. As Ayri tries to flank she ses foot in a scythejaw set by the farmers. With many a failed attack the battle rages on and eventually the magical boots worn byBasiliske Wyrmstrome draw even more attention. Kord smiled down on them and they were successful in dropping the foes.
As they continued their sweep of the southern side of town, the reach The Thirsty Puppy where once again those pesky boots draw the attention of another band of cultists. These foes were seemingly preoccupied in burning down Carawynns Curiosities but quickly fell on Basiliske Wyrmstrome lighting him on fire and continually throwing oil on him to strengthen the flames. The warlord saw death when a pale skinned humanoid dressed in curious leathers moved through shadows and delivered a mighty blow with his dagger. Khazum Lightbeard administered healing to Basiliske Wyrmstrome but at the cost of engulfing himself in flames while Oxull and Ayri fought on. On a cowardly move Khazum Lightbeard jumps in a large barrell of rain water and exstinguishes the flames. The shadow walker proved to be leathal with every strike but was eventually dropped.
Battered and bruised, the group investigates Carawynns Curiosities where Carawynn was not herself. Seemingly possessed by her vampirism she unable to control her magical energies as she shifted in and out of normalcy. The adventurers decided to leave the fang she needed to cure herself and then they exited the building without confrontation.
Further inspection of the derelict town revealed an unlocked door to the local confectioner, but once again those pesky boots drew attention before the group could be tactical. Oxull managed to get inside the confectioner and as he snacked on some of the candy he cleverly set a trap that backfired completely. The rest of the group moved into action against several cultist and a strange shadow wolf that clearly was not from this realm. The battle intensified when Oxull became gravely wounded but, he pulled through in the end. As the shadowy wolf tasted death Oxull was overcome with an urge to march straight toward the onyx tower. Realizing the fighter wasn’t himself Basiliske Wyrmstrome tackled him and the group pulled him back into the confectionary and slapped some sense into him.
Curious movement in the cemetary caused the group to investigate. As they stand at the cemetary gates, strange vapors are escaping the ground and moving towards the tower. As the group plans their next move, Basiliske Wyrmstrome grabs his chest in excruciating pain…

after recovering from their last battle, our heroes find themselves back at the rebel camp. the camp is more lively and its inhabitants look upon the adventurers as heroes. small children are playing “Kords Killaz” and pretending to be their favorite members of the group. Oxull seeks out his admirer Emma Green. he promises to write her so she doesnt worry and after paying their respects to Turkish Gorham they set out on their way back to Winterhaven. early one morning while camping out by the river the group stumbles upon a decpitated head. upon further investigation they discover a destroyed elven campsite. the elves had been brutalized and strung up in demonic fashion the horror of which was too much for our adventurers. a group of hyenas were scavenging the remains of the murdered elves but quickly turn their attention to the heroes. however after a few well placed weapons strikes and a little eldritch mysticism the heyenas fall. inspection of the camp revealed multiple large pawprints heading north and a set of single small humanoid prints in the same direction. careful tracking brings the heroes to a cave entrance guarded by some gnolls and more hyenas. once the pet hyenas fall their gnoll owner flys into a rage and throws the sturdy dwarf cleric into a fire but the stalwart cleric proves to be too much for the gnolls. the cave entrance leads our heroes to an open room where two more gnolls appear to be camping in front of some strange wall. a battle naturally ensues. the adventurers think they have it all under control but a few careless mistakes by Basiliske and Oxull leave Khazum and Ayri open to an attack. to make matters worse a brazier gets tipped over by a magic force and ignites the cleric and the warlock in burn ing oil revealing a powerful gnome mage with power over the earth itself. Ayri knows now the taste of her own blood and Khazum smells his burnt beard hair once more. but with persaverance and a little luck they emerge victoriously. inspection of the back wall reveals a riddle: “in your patience possess ye your souls.” khazum cleverly suggests they camp out to show their patience and a day later the wall opens revealing a treasure trove full of gold, gems, a nail of sealing, and a mysterious old broken helm with bull horns. after loading their satchels with everything they could fit in them they hit the road to winterhaven once more and arrive their late at night only to discover the town involved in some huge ritual. a large group of Orcus worshippers and hypnotized townsfolk stand chanting in front of the onyx tower. the group decides it would be best to maybe set some traps and try to isolate smaller groups to fight. hopefully it is as easy as all that…

After coming to, our heroes find they have been taken by a group of resistance fighters known as the rebels of the sacred heart. Led by Captain Turkish Gorham, the rebels have been fighting a church of heretics that has been posing as a non denominational church. The church has been brainwashing people to give all their money so they could perform a massive sacrafice ritual to bring Orcus to Braelin. The same ritual that Queylanna and Alaan are involved in. Our heroes decide to help the rebels in a giant raid planned for later that night.
First, they explore the campsite to pick up some provisions and get some much neede repairs done to their equipment. Oxull finds a blacksmith named Mary Goldstone that repairs his weapon and makes a few jokes at his expense. The brave fighter also found a young girl from his past. Her name was Emma Green and he had rescued her many years ago. In gratitude, and maybe a little bit of love, she had made a gift for him. An enchanted cloak that can bring him back from the dead in battle. A fledgling mage named Martin, repaired Khazum’s armor, but didnt get it quite right and Basiliske found out he had picked an Onyx Wolfbrother statue that will fight beside him when he learns the magic to control it. Finally the rebels campsite provided a great ally. A tiefling warlock named Ayri that chose to accompany them on their journey.
They met up with Turkish and set out on their mission. While travelling, Turkish revealed a banner his mother had made while held captive by the church. She died for the cause and Turkish had vowed to raise it when the church falls. Stalking through the night, proved challenging. After alerting some scouts and a short battle, the brave goup reached the tower only to be met by guard patrols and Orcus witchcraft in the form of magic gattling guns. THough most of the group cowered from the guns, Turkish stayed on the front lines. He fought bravely and strong, but in the end he fell. Khazumtook the banner and the group pressed on.
The door into the tower proved very challenging but once it was breached our heroes encountered an army of heretics led by a previously unidentified priest now known to them s Alaron, one of Queylanna’s generals. The fight was heated and looked bad, when Alaron made a cocky manuever that proved to be his downfall. He teleported into the fray only to be met by a barrage of warlock magic and flurry of sword strikes from Oxull. Alaron collapsed in a bloodied heap. The enemies all dropped their weapons and begged for mercy which was given graciously.
Khazum raised the banner and found a magic amulet, 1200 gold pieces, and runes that will create a powerful weapon if a ritual can be succssfully performed. HE also found a letter that points them to the Shadowfell. Upon releasing the captive rebels, a familiar face emerged from the prison. It was Avery, but after a little confusion and conversation the group discovered the man they know as Avery is most likely a doppelganger working with Queylanna. Even though the compass points them to the Shadowfell, it appears the work in Braelin is not quite finished. So our heroes set out once more on the long road to Winterhaven.

the strange smell turned out to be a large number of troglodytes. oxull carefully looked around and discovered some very serious traps. the battle was long and hard fought but in the end our heroes emerged victoriously. the next room held some strange pulsating eggs. oxull moved into destroy them only to become swarmed by kruthiks. the insects continuously bit and clawed and proved to be very strong for their small size and eventually their hard shells were cracked. there was a very large door and on the other side was something that no one expected. queylanna was mixing a strange elixir but proceeded to challenge our heroes. after summoning an earth titan and a galb duhr, she escaped using a magic portal. the titan started the fight strong by grabbing and crushing khazaam damaging his enchanted armor. the titan then threw the cleric into the fighter badly damaging the two adventurers. basiliske, in a brave act, took extra time to focus a ranged attack and discovered a weak spot on the titan. the fight was grueling but in the end all of the adventurers exploited the titans weakness and he crumbled before them. an inspection of queylannas lab revealed a portal seed and an evil recipe to control the will of people. sensing that the potion may have been used on the unsuspecting people of winterhaven, our group wondered what queylannas endgame might be. a quick toss of a portal seed opened an escape from these dark tunnels but dropped our heroes in the middle of the forest. looking for their next move, the group was jumped and knocked unconscious…

After recovering from the brutal attacks the day before, the group decided to cross the quick moing river to see what was through the tunnel on the opposite side. They stumbled into a small room full of the undead. A ghostly possession took control of the weak minded Oxull causing him to attack his bewildered allies. The outcome was looking grim till the ever faithful cleric stepped in with a prayer to Kord to turn the undead which eliminated most of the ghoulish zombies. Pressing onward through the tunnels a trap was triggered that sent a wave of spikes shooting up behind them and they nervously blazed the trail through the unknown caverns. Just when they thought they were safe from that trap, another was accidentally triggered releasing a large rolling stone barrelling towards them. The 2 battle hardened warriors were able to dive to safety but alas, the poor cleric was crushed into the wall. Fearing the worst, they pulled his lifeless body out from the massive stone and were able to revive him after a small struggle. They pressed onward and stumbled into a large temple full large humans and tricky mages. Our fearless heros were able to shut down the devilish ceremonies in the temple, but as they appraoched the final enemy she screams “for ”/campaign/4597/wikis/orcus" class=“wiki-page-link”>Orcus!!!" and quickly took her own life. Our adventurers then destroyed the sacrafices that were set out to the idols then destroyed the stone statues leaving the temple in complete disorder. After exiting, they were attacked by some large eyeless worms known as Gricks. The tactical worms put up a strong fight but were eventually dispatched with the help of Oxull who grabbed one and through it into the fast moving river. As they look to the next tunnel, a strange smell emerges…

All the wandering around finally caught up to the heroes when they wandered into a couple of darkened tunnels and had some runins with the local wildlife. Already weary from being lost the group engaged a few troglodytes in the narrow hallways of the underdark only to discover a dead end. Khazum invoked the Hand of Fate Ritual which helped them progress further but the adventurers stayed lost and ran into a few ettercap warriors. Fending off the webspinning of the humanoid spiders the group eventually found their way back to the waterfall. Investigating a hidden tunnel behind the falls, an over zealous and weakened Oxull, busts open an old chest only to discover the guardian of the chest, a large enchanted bear trap, had a vicious bite. A mighty blow inspired by Kord dropped some rubble and a choker down from the ceiling. Things started looking bad real fast. A little glimmer of hope appeared when the choker died but it quickly fizzled out when Oxull fell bloody and dying. After a long struggle without their mighty fighter the enchanted trap busted apart and even though he struggled, Khazum was able to stabilize his valiant ally. the group decided it best to take a long overdo rest before pressing onward in these mysterious and dangerous caverns known as the Underdark.